Today show crew members could be heard laughing awkwardly in the background as Karl laughed.

"Gone," he said referencing reports of his impending sacking. "A couple of weeks ago."

Those reports, which came out in late September, claimed that Channel 9 bosses were preparing to let go of Karl after two years of unending negative publicity and a horror slump in the breakfast show's ratings.

Nine's chief executive Hugh Marks publicly issued a challenge to the star, describing 2018 as a "tough and challenging year for Karl and Today," and demanding the breakfast show lift its game.

"No doubt the constant publicity surrounding issues with his personal life have had an impact on Karl, his colleagues and on the show. We can't hide from that. And as a result we know there's a lot of hard work to be done to win back the audience," he told The Australian.

Marks insisted that Nine would not drop Stefanovic.

"We stick by our people at Nine and we've put the challenge on the Today show producers, the presenters and, especially, on Karl to regain the trust and loyalty of our audience. And I have every confidence they will do it."

The 44-year-old's messy marriage breakup, swift rebound with model Jasmine Yarbrough - almost a decade his junior - and embarrassing public trashing of his co-host Georgie Gardner have seen an ongoing slump in the show's female viewership.